Process of making artificial leather



UNrrno STATES PATENT OFFICE.

I JEFFERSON CHASE, OF PORTLAND, MAINE.

PROCESS OF MAKING ARTIFICIAL LEATHER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 507,213, dated October24, 1893.

' Application filed September 7, 1891. Serial No. 405,011. (Nospecimens.)

T0 aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JEFFERSON CHASE, of Portland, in the county ofCumberland and State of Maine, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Processes of Making Artificial Leather; and I do herebydeclare that the following is afull, clear, and exact description of theinvention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to an improved process for treating animal materialfor the production of artificial leather to be used in the constructionof gears, pulleys, mallets, &c.

The process is equally applicable to leather that has been tanned or toraw hides.

It consists in disintegrating animal material into its constituentfibers and gelatinous elements by mechanical means in the presence ofwater in such manner that the fibers are torn apart but not cut orreduced to a fine powder, the disintegrated fibers and gelatinouselements being reunited by expelling the water from the semi-fluid massunder pressure. This mass is then drawn into a suitable press and thewater thoroughly expelled under pressure and the fibers compactedclosely together so as to form a homogeneous mass which will beexceedingly hard and tenacious.

The special object of my invention is to convert scraps of leather,Waste material, and inferior grades of leather into a homogeneous mass,hard, inflexible and tenacious, and suitable for pulleys, mallets,gears, bnffing wheels, &c.

To this end Ifirst disintegrate the material by mechanical separation inthe presence of water between surfaces which tear the fibers apart butdo not cut or reduce them to a powder, but preserve the integrity of theindividual fiber in its natural state. The fibers and gelatinouselements thus separated and mixed with sufficient water to reduce themto a semi-fluid mass so that they may arrange themselves freely withrespect to each other, are then drawn into a suitable press andsubjected to pressure until the water is expelled and the fibers firmlycompacted together. The result is a mass of homogeneous leather,inflexible, hard and tenacious, because the fibers while in a semi-fluidcondition interlocked each other and being subjected to pressure whilethus interlocked are firmly bound together.

Having thus described my invention and its use, what I claim, and desireto secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

The herein described process of manufacturing homogeneous artificialleather which consists in disintegrating animal material by mechanicallyseparating said material into its constituent fibers and gelatinouselements in the presence of water and recombining said fibers andgelatinous elements by expelling the water under pressure, as and forthe purposes set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I affix my signaturein presence of two witnesses.

JEFFERSON CHASE.

Witnesses:

ELGIN G. VERRILL, ARTHUR O. LIBBY.

